Football Career

The 6 foot 5 Chris was an outstanding football receiver with 417 receptions in 107 games played in the NFL, he was a very skilled player.

He had a famous 99 yard touchdown pass when he was playing for his college squad, the Florida Gators.

He spent 8 years in the NFL, all of them with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was a quick runner, at a 4.4 second 40 yard dash speed, he was a true threat to opponents. His running skill was inherited by his daughter Ashley who won the Kentucky High School title in the 100 meters race, and ran for Harvard later where she became a team captain. The family was full of speed and quick runners

Cris won the 100 yard dash in the 70s with his younger brother taking bets from spectators. He made a lot of money betting on him.

Sports and Scholar Family

Cris not only had the speed and touch on the football field, he also had the brains. With a 3.9+ GPA, he got a degree in Accounting from the University of Florida. Later in 1991 he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Law.

His children were also successful scholars. His daughter received her degree in Psychology from Harvard. His son, Austin is currently the Vice President of Distribution for Pro Football Focus. Austin was also a football player and team captain for Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, his son earned an MBA in Investments. His son worked as a reporter for NBC. His daughter Katie was a Manager of Marketing and Education Projects at GolfNow.

Sportscasting

After retirement, Cris started sportscasting, first on the radio as a guest host, then he took on the show by himself. He then started working for HBO as a reporter in 1989. The next year was big for him as he became a part of NBC's family. 8 years later he joined FOX's team. 3 years later he worked on the Super Bowl.

By 2006, he was a sports superstar and well known by the public. Fans enjoyed how he broke down plays during the game. What he said always seemed to make sense and he had a gift in explaining the game to casual fans.

He even lent his broadcasting talent to video games. He appeared EA Sports’ NFL Madden 09, 10 as well as 11 and 12. Video game fans around the world can recognize his voice even if they don’t know who he is. Billions of hours of game play were played with his voice in the background calling plays while gamers controlled their virtual teams.

NBC Criticism

At one point, there was speculation of NBC letting him go for poor preseason performance which, they said, was a little for a lot of money he earned, "We can replace him with someone cheaper and younger and get just as much production, if not more. It’s time to move on",